Shinachiku's First Birthday
by thesaiyanjedi
Summary: It has already been one year since Naruto and Sakura were married and a year since their son, Shinachiku Uzumaki, was born. November 7 marks Shinachiku's first birthday and the proud parents have invited their friends over to celebrate their baby boy. NaruSaku. Prequel to "Shinachiku's First Adventure."


Hey guys, thesaiyanjedi here with another one shot for you! In honor of our good friend Shinachiku Uzumaki's birthday (or rather, the day most of us fans recognize as his birthday since this is the day we 'created' him), I hereby present this chronicling of...well, baby Shinachiku's very first birthday party.

It's hard to believe that its already been a year since the Naruto manga ended and we NaruSaku fans created our favorite fan child in reaction to it. In December it will mark my one year anniversary of writing stories for him...Man does time fly.

This story takes place a year after the birthing scene depicted in the last chapter of my story "Naruto's Big Day." Its a very simple concept and its one that had to throw together really fast, so I don't know if it represents some of my best work. Still, I hope you guys get some enjoyment out of it.

With that said, lets get to reading!

* * *

"Wake up sweetheart..."

"Yeah, wake up champ. Today's the big day."

Two young adults, one a blonde-haired male with cerulean eyes and three distinctive whisker marks on either cheek, the other a pink-haired female with emerald eyes and a lovely diamond-shaped seal emblazoned upon her broad forehead, were standing together in a colorfully decorated room. The room was filled with toys and small wooden blocks with letter painted on them, and other knick knacks intended for an infant child.

In the center of the room was a wooden crib painted white. Resting inside it was a tiny bundle of joy only three and a half inches tall and weighing a respectable twenty pounds or so. The child had blonde hair like it's father and green eyes that resembled its mother's. The baby was dressed only in a light green pajama suit that matched it's eyes.

The baby was cooing and making other noises as it opened it's eyes to let it's parents know that their son had joined them on this new day. But today wasn't just any ordinary day...

"Happy birthday Shina!" Sakura told her son with a loving smile.

"Happy birthday son," Naruto smiled as well. He brought out a paper blow whistle, the kind that you can find at most birthday parties, thinking that it will make his son laugh...Instead, it apparently spooked little Shinachiku and then he started crying.

"WAAAAAAA! WAAAAAAA!"

Sakura smacked her husband on the back of the head in irritation. "Now look what you did you idiot!"

"Sorry!" the young father quickly apologized as he rubbed the back of his head with his bandaged, prosthetic hand.

Sakura merely huffed at him as eh picked up her child and worked to calm her bundle of joy back down. "Shhh...its okay Shina, mommy's here, mommy's here..."

It took quite a while for Shinachiku to calm back down and to stop crying, but then the parents were quite used to that by now. It had been a year since that fateful day at the hospital when Sakura had finally given birth to their first born son. Shinachiku's conception had been the capper to what had been the third greatest day of Naruto's life, the day that he had finally fulfilled his lifelong dream and became the Leaf Village's Seventh Hokage and the day that the love of his life agreed to marry him. Only their wedding day and the birth of their son could trump that day in Naruto's mind.

Sakura walked over to her husband, the baby still in her arms. "I'm sorry honey, I did't mean to loose my temper but—"

"No, no you were right Sakura, it was my fault." The blonde leaned down and kissed his now one-year old son on the cheek, which this time caused him to giggle.

The parents smiled at each other with closed eyes, as Naruto wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulder and she leaned her head on his. The baby was likely reaching out to them as he cooed aloud.

Breaking up the scene, Sakura realized the routine and set about it as usual. "It looks like he's hungry already." She then caught a whiff of something that caused her nose to curl in disgust; she did not need to guess where the smell was coming from.

"Here," Sakura said as she handed the baby off to Naruto, "you go ahead and change him while I go get his breakfast ready."

Naruto, the usually fearless shinobi and leader of the entire village, instantly went into a state of panic. "W-What?! But Sakura, after what happened last time—" He did not get to finish his sentence because he could already see that his wife had gone downstairs without him.

"Damn it!" He then remembered the impressionable young baby that he was holding in his hands, "Ah! I mean, _darn_ it! Yes! Yes, _that's_ what I meant to say!" He laughed nervously as a large sweat drop appeared on his head. 'Oh man, please tell me he didn't understand that.'

With a deep sigh, Naruto carried Shinachiku over to a high-rise table where a baby blue cloth was laid out and a plastic bottle of powder was waiting to be used.

"Alright champ, lets see what we've got this time." With that, he opened up his son's diaper and was treated to quite a large surprise. "Oh GOD!"

...Yeah, let's just say that it was quite a mess.

"How can something so small create so much of something so disgusting!"

Shinachiku didn't pay any mind to it of course, he was just moving around and giggling to himself as if he had not a care in the world. Naruto, fighting off the smell, set to work wiping his son's butt and crotch clean.

"There! Now don't you go hitting me again like last time—"

Naruto was cut off when it happened, right at that moment. His own son just peed right in his face. It may have only lasted a couple of seconds, but it was enough to drench the young Hokage in the child's fluids. The worst part, Shinachiku was laughing the whole time.

Naruto merely stood there as the infant's urine dripped off his face; the annoyed, somewhat contemplative look on his face made it almost seem as though it was all part of some sitcom situation.

As he finally dried his face with a towelette, he thought to himself, 'Well, at least it didn't get in my mouth this time.'

Wanting to wrap this up before there were any more 'accidents', Naruto finished putting a fresh diaper on his son and threw the used one in the trash. He then put a fresh set of clothes on him consisting of an orange shirt with the Konoha symbol on the front and some toddler-sized shorts. His son was good as new and ready for his big day.

Naruto carried Shinachiku downstairs and arrived just in time to see Sakura setting two plates of eggs on the table. "Mmmm...looks delicious."

"Thank you sweetie." She kissed her husband on the cheek to showcase her gratitude before taking the baby in her arms. "Any trouble up there?"

"No, no, no trouble at all...until our son **peed** in my **face** again!"

Sakura put on an expression of pretending to be horrified, before making a goofy-looking face at the baby. "Ah! Shinachiku! Did you go pee pee on the funny man's face again?" Both mother and son started laughing, much to the father's irritation.

"It's not funny Sakura."

"Actually, it kind of is. You _know_ you'd be laughing at me if he went number one on me instead."

Naruto was about to say something, but then closed his mouth in defeat. "You're probably right, as usual."

"Come on, lets have some breakfast."

The parents sat at the table eating their eggs with a cup of morning coffee, while Shinachiku was set up on a high-rise baby stool with a small bowl of baby food set in front of him. He also had his baby bottle in front of him filled with warm milk. After having her eggs, Sakura proceeded to feed her son by scooping the food into a tiny spoon and putting it into the giggling boy's tiny mouth. She couldn't help going into mom mode as she started making funny faces to get her little bundle of joy to smile.

"Okay Shina, open wide for mommy sweetie." The baby did as he was told and Sakura fed him. Some of the food dribbled out of the baby's mouth so she scooped it up and fed him again, making funny faces while doing so.

"Umm, Sakura?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"You should see the look on your face right now."

She turned to her husband with a raised eyebrow. "Oh please, as if _you've_ never made goofy faces while playing with him."

"...I have no comment."

Sakura nodded with a smile, 'Yeah, that's what I thought!'

After she finished feeding the baby and giving him his bottle, the parents then needed to get ready for their usual routines before the birthday party tonight. Naruto needed to make it to the office for his daily Hokage duties while Sakura needed to get to the hospital.

"Do we have everything we need?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Sakura answered. "I picked up some food at the store the other day and I've got the cake waiting to be picked up after work."

"I could always send a shadow clone to do it if you're too busy y'know."

"Thanks honey, but it should be fine. Anyway I'd better get going so I can drop this one off at daycare on the way to work."

"Alright, I'll see you tonight sweetie." He kissed his wife on her forehead, which she returned by instigating a romantic, five-second kiss on his lips. Their son did not seem to mind the scene since, well, he was too young to know any better.

Waving goodbye to one another they both left the lavish house and exited the impressive front gate.

* * *

Naruto was taking in the morning air as he made his usual trek towards the Academy. He was making good time so far and doubted he would need to resort to using his Flying Thunder God technique to teleport himself straight to his office. He was in pretty high spirits today; after all, it wasn't every day that your first born child has his very first birthday.

He accepted the praise he was receiving from the villagers, trying to block out some of the flirtatious glances he was getting from some of the women he met. He eventually made it to the Academy and greeted Shizune at the base of the stairs.

"Morning Shizune."

"Morning Naruto. How's Sakura?"

"She's doing great, we both are."

"How about that adorable baby boy of yours?"

"He's his usual precious self. You coming to the party tonight?"

"Of course I am. What time was it again?"

"6:00 p.m., that way Sakura and I both have time to get home from work and get everything in order. We're only having a small party this time."

"Sounds good to me."

Naruto started heading up the stairs before he stopped and turned around. "Any calls?"

"Not yet...Oh! Except that Sasuke sent a messenger hawk for you."

That was certainly enough to get Naruto's attention. "He did?"

"Yes, the scroll is already waiting for you on your desk."

"Alright I'll take a look at it. Thank you Shizune."

"You're welcome Naruto."

And so the Seventh Hokage walked up the stairs to his office and opened the door. Just as Shizune had said, resting on top of all of Naruto's other scrolls and paperwork that he was scheduled to do for the day, was the scroll that Sasuke had sent. The blonde walked over to his desk and unraveled the scroll.

'Come on Sasuke,' Naruto complained inside his head. 'You _do_ realize that there's this new invention called the telephone now, don't you?'

Reading the scroll, he found himself frowning at what it had to say:

 _Dear Naruto:_

 _Our latest mission has been progressing as expected. Squads of insurgents from small villages near the Land of Wind are being suppressed and arrested thanks to my team's efforts. And don't worry, Karin and I are making damn sure that our little Sarada is nowhere near the action. Honestly, Suigetsu, Jūgo and myself have been doing most of the work as Karin's been insisting on keeping watch over our daughter, even when the rest of us volunteered to relieve her._

 _But I digress, I realize that my godson's first birthday is coming up soon and how you and Sakura must be looking forward to having his 'Uncle Sasuke and Aunt Karin' back home. Unfortunately this mission looks like its going to take longer than anticipated and that it doesn't appear that Karin and I will make it back in time._

 _I have no doubt that you're disappointed Naruto, but sometimes reality gets in the way of what we want. I trust that you will understand. Please say hello to Shinachiku for us._

 _~Sasuke_

"Damn it Sasuke!" Naruto cursed aloud. "Is it too much to ask for my best friend and my cousin to come home for _one_ day?!"

He slumped into his chair and held his head in his hand. He knew he was being selfish, but he could not help it. He didn't go through hell and back to bring Sasuke home, to fulfill his promise of a lifetime to Sakura, just so he could up and leave whenever he chose and rarely ever see them again. In a sense, it was almost as though nothing had changed.

Naruto groaned out loud until he heard a knock on his door. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal a man his own age with dark hair kept in a pineapple-shaped ponytail and with a goatee on his chin. The man was dressed head-to-tow in black, save for an unbuttoned white dress shirt he wore over a black undershirt. In his hand the man was carrying a stack of papers.

"What is it Shikamaru?"

"I just came by to drop off some forms that require your signature boss."

Naruto took a deep breath to get his thoughts about Sasuke out of his head as he got out his pen. "Alright, lets see them."

It was all pretty standard stuff really; contracts, mission approvals, budget negotiations, recommendations from the Elders (most of which Naruto declined), and so on. However, there was one particular form that held the blonde's attention.

"What's this?" Naruto questioned his adviser.

Shikamaru looked over to see what his old friend was referring to. "Oh that? That's an invitation to some sort of technology exposition that is going to be held in the Land of Water in about three months."

 _"Technology expo?"_

"Yeah, I don't really get it either. But whatever it is, it's promising to showcase some radical new technological advancement that will change our world forever. They're even saying that what they've got there could quickly outclass the telephone."

"What could possibly—?"

"Something they're calling a laptop computer."

"A _what_ computer?"

"It's crazy. It's apparently a computer that is so small and thin that you could set it on your desk or even in your lap if you wanted to, or carry it around with you."

"But how could that work if it needs to be plugged into—?"

"It's supposed to be powered by a rechargeable battery that you can plug into the wall when it gets low but go unplugged the rest of the time."

Naruto stared blankly as he took all of this in. "I don't know man, it sounds pretty weird to me."

"Yeah well, I wouldn't be surprised if the other kage's took an interest in researching new technologies too."

"Hmmm..." Naruto smiled as he read the invitation. "Y'know, a change of scenery might be good for a change. Let me talk to Sakura about it and maybe we can figure out a way for both of us to go to this...whatever it is."

He then started reading and signing papers, getting into the groove. After a good while Shikamaru got curious about something else. "Hey, today's your son's birthday isn't it?"

"Yeah...Wait? Didn't I give you a invitation to his birthday party tonight?"

"You did? ...Eh, whatever, Temari and I will be there tonight either way."

"Good man." He went back to work on his report; he had plenty that he needed to get done before his son's party tonight.

* * *

"Alright sir, it looks like you check out. Let me just write you a new prescription and you'll be on your way."

Sakura was just wrapping up appointment with a gentleman who was recovering from serious injury suffered a while back. His recovery was going very well so far and so Sakura was writing him up another prescription for pain reliever, calculating that it should be enough to cover the rest of the man's recovery time.

"There you go sir," she said handing the gentleman the piece of paper. "Just take that down to the pharmacy and you should be fully recovered by the time its through."

The man thanked her as he left the physician's office and headed out to the lobby. Sakura was left in the room going over the rest of her schedule.

'Alright let me see...I've got another check up next, then an x-ray, then a colonoscopy...Alright then, no sense in delaying things.'

Sakura headed out of the room and instructed her nurses to call for her next patient. All the while, the pink-haired kunoichi found herself daydreaming about her infant son's smiling face this morning. It put a big smile on her face, but it also go her thinking.

'Its hard to believe that he's already a year old today. It feels like just yesterday I'd given birth to him. At this rate he'll be going to the Academy in no time and then he'll be off on his Genin missions where he could...he could...'

This line of thought was making her feel sad, very sad. But she needed to swallow her fears. She was a ninja damn it! So was her husband, and so would their son be! Danger was simply a part of their lives and besides, if that boy was anything like his father or herself, then he was going to grow up to be something really special, _especially_ if he was lucky enough to get his father's power and his mother's brains.

Wiping away the barest traces of tears and recomposing herself, Sakura made herself presentable again for her next patient. She needed to be productive today and get as much done as possible so she could then pick up Shinachiku from daycare. After all, her son had a big day today.

* * *

It was another long day at the office for the blonde jinchūriki, but a good couple of hours (or rather eight, nine counting lunch), he clocked out at last and was ready to head home to his family. He needed to hustle today to get stuff ready for the party. Granted, there wasn't going to be a whole lot to do this time, but you never know how soon guests are going to arrive.

To that end, he decided that he might as well skip taking the long way for once and instead take his special 'shortcut.' Ducking into an alleyway where none could see him, he got his hands into a familiar hand sign.

"NINJA ART: FLYING THUNDER GOD!"

With a flicker, Naruto's body disappeared in an orange flash. It reappeared an instant later not within the village but inside his master bedroom. Much like the special kunai he had set up in his office in case of emergencies, he had also set up another one inside his house for the same purpose. It came in handy for situations like this.

Opening the door, he walked down two flights of stairs and headed in to the living room. He started hanging a simple banner with giant letters reading "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" He cleared the room of all of Shinachiku's toys so no one would step on them and then he placed them in the play pen he and Sakura had set up for him. He had made two shadow clones to aid in the last minute clean up and to put some of the condiments and food like chips and dip out on the table for everyone to eat.

Before too long, the set up was finished and Naruto had his hands on his hips. "Well, its not one of my best jobs but it'll do."

As if on cue, he heard a loud knock on the front door. Walking over to it, he opened the door to reveal his wife standing there with her son in one hand, a grocery bag in the other. From the size of the bag he was able to guess that contained the birthday cake.

"Hi honey," he said to her.

"Hi. You mind taking him for a second?"

He picked the baby up out of his mother's arms and held him as she went into the kitchen set the cake down on the table before opening up the pantry for better storage.

"Any trouble at work today?" he asked her from across the hall.

"No," she said, "fairly typical day. I had an operation that needed to be rescheduled which worked out for time. Oh, but I _did_ have to perform a colonoscopy though."

Her husband winced at the thought of such an experience. "Um, you _did_ remember to wash your hands didn't you?"

"Oh please! Forgetting to follow decent manners in _your_ thing Naruto."

"True that."

Setting the baby inside the play pen, Naruto headed into the kitchen to see his wife setting out some more of the food. He couldn't resist sneaking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm getting you to relax. This is going to go perfectly fine Sakura. It's just are friends coming tonight anyway."

Sakura sighed, "I know, I just...its our son's first birthday."

"And its going to go over fine. Trust me, he'll have a great time—"

 **"WAAAAAAAHHHHH! WAAAAAAAHHHHH!"**

Yep! Right on cue the baby started crying again. The young father couldn't help but frown at the impeccable timing, almost as if the fates had just played some kind of cosmic joke on him.

"I'll get it," she said as she walked into the other room to pick up her son. Naruto watched as she petted the soothed the baby until he eventually calmed down. "Shh...its alright sweetheart, mommy's here."

'Wow,' Naruto thought to himself in wonder as he witnessed the scene before him now, 'that woman really is amazing.'

As he was thinking this Sakura had taken the baby over to a chair and lowered her dress enough to pull out one of her breasts. She offered it to her son who lightly suckled on it. Naruto thought the scene was beautiful.

After they were done, Sakura pulled her dress back up and noticed that Shinachiku was getting sleepy.

"Looks like our special little guy is ready for a nap."

"Aw!" Naruto whined, "But then he'll miss his own birthday."

Sakura giggled, "What can I say, kids his age need plenty of rest. Don't worry, I'm sure he'll wake up again before the day's over."

And so the proud mother carried her baby boy back up to his room and laid him back in his bed. After wrapping a blanket around him she went back downstairs and rejoined her husband in the parlor room. He was sitting on the sofa in a relaxed posture and she was quick to join him. The blonde couldn't resist the temptation to wrap his arm around her as she leaned into his chest.

"You smell nice," she told him.

"Thanks, you too." He meant it, the shampoo she used had the scent of strawberries to it.

The parents relaxed like that for they didn't know how long, until they heard a knock on the door.

"Hmm...wha?" Naruto came too groggily. He heard the knocking again. "Sakura? Hey Sakura! I think they're here already."

"What? Oh crap!"

They both quickly got up off the couch and straightened their clothes and their hair, in order to make themselves more presentable to their guests. Walking over to the door, they opened it to see the first of their friends had arrived.

"Ino! Sai!" Sakura greeted as she gave her best friend a warm hug.

"Hey Sakura!" Ino said back as she returned the hug.

"Lord Hokage." Sai stated sternly.

"Captain," Naruto stated back with equal sternness.

It was quiet for a couple of seconds, but then whatever seriousness was in the air vanished as the two friends dropped the formalities and shook hands.

"Glad you two could make it man."

"It was our pleasure Naruto."

Sakura then noticed a blonde-haired, pale faced bundle of joy sleeping in Ino's arms. "Oh, an how's little Inojin doing today?"

"He's asleep right now, but I figured that he and Shinachiku could play together while we sat around and talked. By the way, where is the birthday boy?"

"Oh, he's upstairs asleep right now."

"Aww...well when he wakes up let him know that his Aunt Ino is looking forward to seeing him."

The couple stepped into the house and then into the living room as Naruto and Sai discussed their comings and goings (and maybe just a little bit of shinobi business) while Sakura and Ino shared in womanly gossip over a pot of tea. Sai also had a gift in his hand which he placed in the corner of the room to be opened later.

After a while another knock was heard and Naruto went to go open the door. "Oh Kiba! Hinata! Glad you two could make it."

"Hello Naruto," Hinata said with sincerity, all the while holding their twin children, Ōkami and Tsuki, in her arms whom, unlike Inojin, were wide awake and crying.

"Hey man...umm, sorry about, you know." He gestured to the kids while his wife was already working (and succeeding) in quieting them down.

"No problem," Naruto said before he leaned in to whisper something into Kiba's ear. "Between you and me, I'm betting we're going to be hear _a lot_ of babies crying tonight."

Hinata joined her girlfriends for tea and talking while the guys got into...well, guy stuff. By now Inojin was awake again and so he and the twins were put into the play pen. A few minutes later, another knock could be heard which Naruto answered also.

"Oh Shikamaru! Temari!"

"Hey Naruto," Shikamaru waved lazily.

"Hope we're not late?" Temari questioned as she held their son Shikadai in her arms.

"Oh don't be silly, you're right on time," Naruto assured them as he invited them both inside.

Shikadai was put in the pen with the other kids and the adults splintered off into their little gender groups when yet another knock was heard at the door.

"Oh hey Lee! Tenten!"

"Good evening Naruto, my friend! What a glorious and youthful evening this is to celebrate the one year anniversary of the birth of your first born son!"

Naruto sweat dropped, _hard_. "...Thank you Lee."

"Glad to see you Naruto," Tenten said with a smile.

Naruto invited the couple in with their own infant son Burandon. Funny thing was this time Lee was the one carrying the baby, even while he was making his overly energetic declaration. Even stranger, Naruto could have swore that the bushy browed son of, well, Bushy Brows was trying his best to mimic his father's movements.

And so the routine carried on for the next hour or so: Chōji and Kurai arrived with their daughter Chōchō, Shino and his wife had shown up with their recently born son Bagu, and Kakashi stopped by with Tsunade and Shizune. Even Konohamaru stopped by unexpectedly with a gift that was added to the now decent sized pile of birthday presents. That was pretty much everybody who had been invited...well, everyone except for...

 _Knock! Knock!_

This time Sakura volunteered to go to the door, already knowing the only two people it could possibly be. Opening the door she was all smiles.

"Mom! Dad!"

"Hey sweetheart!" Kizashi said loudly as she wrapped his daughter in a hug.

"So sorry we're late sweetheart." Mebuki apologized.

"No, no it's alright mom, really. Please come inside."

Sakura invited her parents into the house where they were greeted by their son in law and his friends. They also traded friendly hellos from their old teachers. But alas, something was amiss.

"Sakura," Mebuki questioned, "where is my grandson?"

"Oh, I put him to sleep a while ago. Wait here, I'll go wake him up."

The young mother ascended the stairs as her husband continued to entertain their guests. Walking into the baby's room she could see her handsome little man was just barely waking up from his nap, meaning that now was the time to take him downstairs to greet his party guests.

"Rise and shine birthday boy," the woman told her son, "you've got some people who have been looking forward to seeing you."

She carried the baby down the stairs and into the living room where everybody was gathered. "Here he is."

True to form, all of the party guests were gaga over the birthday boy. Kizashi and Megumi were the first to snatch up the baby and lift him into the air.

"Aww! How's grandma's little pumpkin?" Megumi asked as she planted kisses on the baby's cheeks.

"Yo champ!" Kizashi smiled big and wide, "grandpa's here!" The old man made a big, funny face at the baby, easily getting him to start laughing.

"Ooohh!" Ino couldn't help herself from snatching the little boy into her arms and making funny faces at him. "Who's the birthday boy! Who's excited to see their Aunty Ino!"

She played a pica boo game with the boy to get him to smile, which he did, before she finally passed him to Sai, who he didn't seem quite as happy to see for some reason. Sai then handed him to Hinata, who gave the baby one of her sincere and sweet smiles that got him giggling again.

"Happy birthday Shina," she said. "You Aunt Hinata came by to say hello."

She passed him to her husband next. "Hey kid! Happy birth—"

Kiba's sentence was cut off by something totally unexpected. You see, while the dog shinobi was holding him, Shinachiku suddenly let out a surprisingly loud fart. The room fell silent as poor Kiba was clearly not amused.

"Yep...you're your father's son all right."

The rest of the party guests laughed while Naruto and Sakura (Naruto especially) blushed in embarrassment.

And so the birthday boy met all of his well wishers and surprisingly none of them made him cry. After that he was put in the play pen with the other babies while the adults all started chatting it up. Kizashi and Mebuki volunteered to keep an eye on the kids while the parents got to spend some time with their friends.

The party went on about thirty more minutes until, all of a sudden, they heard a familiar sound at the door.

 _Knock! Knock!_

The others were caught off guard. Everyone was here so who on Earth could that possibly be?

"I'll get it," Naruto told everyone as he headed to the front door. When he opened it, his mouth hung open in shock at who it was.

"Hey dobe."

"S-S- _Sasuke?!_ "

"The one and only."

"B-But I thought you said in your scroll—?"

"Change of plans, our mission cleared up in time after all so the wife said she wanted to stop by."

Naruto then noticed his distant cousin Karin standing next to his best friend. in her arms she was holding a baby girl about Shinachiku's age with black hair and eyes.

"Hey Karin."

"Hey Naruto." She signaled to her husband to put down the gift he was holding under his one remaining arm and hold their daughter as she gave Naruto a hug. "It's so good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too." Breaking the hug, he got up close to the baby who seemed very happy to see him. "Hey there Sarada. Did you miss seeing your Uncle Naruto?" A baby girl's giggling was his answer.

"So are you going to let us in or not?" Sasuke questioned bluntly.

"Sure, right this way."

The blonde Hokage let his guests in to join the others, setting their gift in the corner. The Uchiha family were greeted with surprise by the others, especially Sakura who gave both of them a very enthusiastic hug before picking up their baby girl. In the background, Shikamaru was eyeing Sasuke suspiciously, as he had been ever since what happened the first time Naruto and Sakura tried to get married.

"Hi there Sarada!" Sakura said to the happy baby. "You remember your Aunty Sakura?" The girl laughed and clapped her hands ecstatically for her answer. "Well its nice to see you too dear."

Karin handed her back over to her mother, who then put her in the play pen with the other kids. Curiously, Shinachiku and Sarada started playing with each other really quickly.

After a while the guests helped themselves to some food and then it was time for the cake. They sat it down in front of their son, far enough away that he wouldn't be able to reach over and try to touch the flame from the candles. When everything was set, they started to sing.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SHINACHIKU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!"

"Make a wish Shina," Sakura told her son as she and Naruto helped him to blow out the candles. "Yay!" the parents said as they all clapped.

Sakura proceeded to cut slices of cake for everyone, with plenty of paper towels at the ready for the inevitable mess the kids were going to make when they had their cake.

As soon as the guests had helped themselves to some cake and ice cream, it was time to wrap up the night by unwrapping Shinachiku's presents. Naruto and Sakura, again, were both happy to help because their son was still a wee bit too young and unaware to open them all by himself.

There was applause at all of the gifts that the one-year old received that day. Most of them were clothes, but some of the gifts were more creative. Kizashi and Mebuki got their grandson a plush slug doll, one that looked very much like Lady Katsuyu, his mother's summon (though he was too young to know that yet). Lee had gotten a gift to be sent from both him and Tenten, not even thinking to tell her what is was first since it was admittedly kind of last minute. Imagine her surprise then when she found out that her husband had gotten the one-year old boy some weighted training clothes that he wouldn't be old enough to use for several years.

"You idiot!" Tenten said as she whacked her husband on the back of the head.

"Gomen Tenten."

The rest of the presents were mostly all the same: baby clothes. But then it came down to Sasuke and Karin's present. Tearing the wrapping paper off it turned out to be...a box. Inside the box they found...a kunai.

"SASUKE!" Sakura shouted "You gave my son a kunai for his birthday! He'll cut himself! Or worse!"

"Calm down Sakura," Sasuke gestured to her with his one remaining hand. "Karin and I didn't have much time to find a gift so we got to talking about it. We started thinking about the boy's future and we decided to give him his first weapon for when the time was right and he began training at the Academy. See that thing tied at the base?"

The parents looked at the kunai and indeed there was a orange and red string tied to the base There were a few light threads of blue subtly sown in there too just for good measure.

Sasuke continued, "Orange and red are your colors Naruto, Sakura. That's meant as a sign of good luck. A sign that both of you will watch over him and guide him to a bright and prosperous future, if not in person than in spirit...Or so some village my team and I visited liked to believe, I don't know. I went ahead and sowed my color in there too just for luck."

Taking this in, they looked at one another before Sakura walked up to Sasuke and gave him another hug.

"It's perfect Sasuke, thank you."

"Hey," Karin interjected, "this bum was just going to settle for the kunai. The ribbon was _my_ idea."

"Thank you guys," Naruto said to both of them. "We'll be sure to give it to him when he's old enough.

Sasuke nodded with just the slightest hint of a smile. "You're welcome Naruto."

* * *

After the party was over and the guests all left to return home. This only left the very happy and very tired family to clean up the mess from the party and they chose to relax together until it got late, the birthday boy sitting on his mother's lap as she played with him and his father made funny faces to entertain him.

"Alright," Sakura said, "it was fun but I think its time this one got to bed."

"Sure thing honey," Naruto agreed. "Come on, he's had a long day."

The two lovers went upstairs together and made it to the baby's room. Setting their one year old in his crib, they tucked him in and sang him a short lullaby to loll him to sleep. Once the little one was safely away in dreamland, the proud parents held each other and smiled as their son's content slumber. Naruto hugged his wife's waist while Sakura turned her head to capture his lips in a soft but passionate kiss.

"I love you," he told her for what felt like the millionth time.

"I love you too," she answered back. She looked back at her slumbering baby one more time and said aloud: "We must be the luckiest parents in the world to have been blessed with a son like him."

Naruto smiled proudly, "Yeah, we are."

With that, the young father led the boy's mother out of the room and toward their own bedroom so they could get some much needed rest of their own...But not before Naruto peeked back into his son's room and whispered one more thing.

"Goodnight Shinachiku, and happy birthday. Your mother and father love you, so very, very much."

* * *

Well wasn't that sweet? Really guys, I hope you enjoyed that. As I said, I needed to hammer it out really fast to get it done before the end of the day, so I hope it came out even remotely worth while.

The line of Naruto's, "How can something so small create so much of something so disgusting!" was pulled from the movie "Three Men and a Baby." I believe it was Steve Guttenberg's character who said it.

I came up with the idea of the kunai as a gift idea from Sasuke and Karin to be something that Shinachiku might get some real use out of later in life, sort of like how in many hero's journey myths the mentor often bestows a gift onto the hero that will be useful in battle (think Obi-Wan Kenobi giving Anakin's lightsaber to Luke in the original "Star Wars" as a contemporary example, or Gandalf giving Bilbo the sword that he would call Sting in "The Hobbit", and then Bilbo passing Sting on to Frodo in "The Lord of the Rings"). Keep that in mind because it just might pop up again in "Shinachiku's First Adventure" or somewhere else.

I know it's low brow humor, but I still feel proud of the scene where baby Shinachiku farts on Kiba...I guess the apple didn't fall too far from the tree after all. LOL!

Well, that's all I've got for now. Again, I hope you liked it, and until next time, see ya!

Oh, one more thing...HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHINACHIKU!


End file.
